Hot Rods smallblock chevy heads

This old man has been a lifelong sbc guy and I have always had the "if a little is good, then too much is just right" mentality when it comes to engines.
I think it is a testosterone issue more than anything. Bench racing has been such an integral part of our gearhead existence and the lowly 307 has always been on the low end of the "bragging rights" list. Always seemed like they held about as much regard as a four door (my first car) so I'm here to tell you; it's damn difficult to feel like you fit in when your buds' cars were real fuelie motored tri- fives, Z/28's, L-79's, etc.
307 just doesn't roll off the tongue quite like the others, no matter what's been done to them. On the other hand; with all the cool parts available now; it seems like it would hold a lot of shock value to tell the guy that just lost his pink slip to you that you have "just a little 307" under the hood.

 

LOL I lost to a lowly 265 when I was in highschool, I know now that he was not being entirely honest. But back then I was devastated, until I came back in a couple of weeks with a 272 with Thunderbird rocker covers.

 

DDDenny, it's a psychological ***** extension thing you're saying ?
My stuff is bigger, my ***** is badder and my wallet is fatter.

It's hard to imagine how the marketing image negates the simple art of pistons and rods moving air. Obviously there's a blockage of that air movement hidden within those casting numbers.

 

Imagine that

 

I don't have a big wiener, but my wife thinks it is.

I am not sure when the last time was that someone actually checked my numbers but I have been known to say almost anything if someone asks. We have come a long ways from the original question though haven't we.

 

Would you like to revisit the original question ******? It's been answers already but we can do it again.

Yeah,,,, and George started it.
Every time he says he "not going to say anything" it's just about to happen.

 

Yea! Funny how far we go some times Images of these posts may appear larger in your rear view mirror.

 

First off........Waaaaayyyyyy too much information

I'd say the train left the tracks ******!

 

It was SO COVERED way back in the first dozen posts, and other than my "visual aid" on page two, pretty much everything had been said. There are only so many ways to say "YES" before it starts getting old...

 

Really?
I've seen plenty of hard hitting BBC get put on the trailer by Boosted 4cyl Asian cars. Maybe they had a More cubic inches in the trunk.

 

Yes, yeah, affirmative, sure, yep.
Sorry they are prepping the track so there's time to kill

 

That is one ugly trunk monkey!

 

Well there is, it's called a turbocharger or nitrous oxide but that's O/T

 

No it's not off topic.

 

many folks would be surprised how long that stuff has been around, just like radial tires, suspension air bags, safety airbags, disc brakes and fuel injection

 

A 307 is long stroke small bore. good for torque. ive got one in my 57 chevy dump truck. Its a good mill for that application. I like RPM so I want large bore small stroke. I don't build 307,s or 383,s. I put the 350 cranks in the 400 blocks. and sell the 400 cranks to the idiots who install them in the 350 blocks. Back in the day Bill Jenkens installed the small journal 327 cranks in the 400 block. In a nut shell what is wrong with the 307 is it has too small of a bore.

 

Bore is too small?

My mom says her closet is too small, I tell her the closet is what it is and you've got too much junk in it.

Much is the the same with a 307 bore. It's the size it is and it's our job to get organized air through as efficiently as possible. That means not treating it like, thinking like or building it like it's bigger than it is.

The smaller bore can handle more compression too. The thing can crank out well over 300 HP without cracking a sweat or the bank. Makes torque so you gear to take advantage. And it's cheaper to feed. If you want way higher Rpms the same rules apply but the law of diminishing returns comes along too. That sorta kills the budget and then it makes sense to just get a bigger closet.

 

I threw together a 307 out of left over pieces for my son's 70 Chev pickup in the early 70's that ran pretty good for what it was and with 3.7 gears and a compound 4 speed gave the stoplight to stop light brigade fits. I don't think it would have been any great shakes in the quarter but it was quick for short spurts and pulled 16 mpg on a road trip from Washington to Texas an back in 1989. 307 short block, mid 80's Z28 hydraulic cam that I bought used at the Portland swapmeet with lifters numbered in an egg carton, power pack heads, a 300 hp cast iron intake and a spread bore double pumper Holley. No fancy parts (rering kit from Lopers) and no fancy machine work.
No I would never dump serious money in one trying to build it as a performance engine nor would I dump money into a 305 as I don't see either worth putting real money into them but if you can use a few left over pieces out of the back room and put one together to go in a low budget rod why not? We all don't need the bragging rights of having mega dollar machine work and high end parts in our engines that will only see street use 99% of the time.

 

Ok, here's my story on 307's. In the fall of 1971 my mom bought a 70 Nova 4 door brand new off the lot. It had a 307 2bbl with a powerglide behind it, not sure of rear end ratio. It was a fun little car from stoplight to stoplight, as the rear would squat and the nose would rise up. Never would spin a tire, but would run to 50 mph and then it was all done making what power it had. She would always complain to me how hard it was to drive in the winter, I just figured it was an aging thing! Well one day I had to borrow that car during the winter and just about didn't get it home again after it snowed! That thing had so much low end torque and no weight that it was impossible to drive! I had to take it back to her and agree it was the worst winter car I had ever driven!

 

I **** at taking my own advice....

 

You probably should. Even if the block isnt thick enough to bore to 4", you still have a crank that you can dump in a "dime a dozen" 350 block, and build a cheap large journal 327. I just bought another set of forged +030 trw 327 pistons off Butch for $150. The stuff to build these motors is everywhere, and its not expensive.

 

I have actually put a few on the trailer with one of my high winding small blocks. I have actually put a couple on the trailer on N2O (NOS) but I had to ask this guy who one.

 

IDK George- getting 300 HP is tricky..

 

I'm just sitting that one out. When I post a mechanical compression ratio with duration and intake centerline in response to a question about viable compression ratios for pump gas, and people find that too obscure, I KNOW I am on the wrong thread...

 

Every once in a while

 

When I hit the lottery, I am going to build a twin-turbo 307, just to piss you guys off.